Like Stars
by SolemnMischiefManager
Summary: But my eyes sought one face, and their eyes twinkled like stars when they met mine and I was suddenly filled with hope as Sirius smiled at me, with the smile he reserved just for me. And I took hold of his hand, just hoping that we'd live through the war so that I could tell him that I forgave him and most importantly that I loved him. - Rating for Mature themes in later chapters -
1. Chapter 1

_**Disclaimer : I don't own Harry Potter, all characters except Phoenix and some plotlines go to J.K Rowling**_

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"James – _pst_ – James! Oi, down here!"

With his eyebrows furrowed James Potter looked down at me from where I lay under the table he was sat studying at. His eyes widened in surprise and I rolled my eyes at his dumfounded expression. I had to grudgingly admit that he was a very good looking boy – he was still a prat though.

His unbelievably messy black hair was messy in a way that made you want to run your fingers through it to see if it would ever lie flat, his hazel eyes shined showing his every emotion and the muscles he had gained from being Chaser for the Quidditch Team helped a lot. And he wore _glasses_. For some strange reason girls had a weakness for boys who had a weakness for eyesight. Personally, I would prefer my man to not have to wear protective goggles all the time.

"Er – Phoenix? Hi?" James asked in an unsure voice.

I laughed as he ruffled his hair nervously.

"Hello to you as well," I smirked, "I need to talk to you."

"And hiding under a table in the library was the best way to do it?" He asked.

"Yes," I replied simply, "Plus I couldn't be to sure if Lily would see me and to be honest the floor really is very comfortable."

James shrugged, "Fair enough, what did you want to talk about?"

"Lily of course."

A goofy grin filled his face and he looked across the library with a far away look in his eyes. I rolled my eyes again and pulled my wand out of my pocket, I flicked it and a number of red sparks shot out the tip of it and hit him in the side of the head jolting him out of his daydream.

"Hey! What was that for?" He grumbled rubbing his head.

"You were drooling," I said, "Plus this is really important."

"What is it then?" He asked concernedly.

I smiled. James was really great especially when it came to things like this; given that both of us had come from Pureblood families we'd known each other from toddlers. James was a really great friend and I considered him as a brother. I knew all to well that he thought of me as his little sister and therefore he was ridiculously protective of me.

It was a shame we didn't have chance to talk to each other a lot anymore, at Hogwarts it was because of Lily's great dislike of him and the other Marauders and at home well it was because of how different our families were.

"It's about Snape," I replied with a scowl as I stood up and slid into the seat beside him, "I've had enough."

"Why, what happened?"

"It's been going on a long time really," I told him with a small shrug, "He's always threatening me and Dorcas, out of earshot of Lily, but he's always telling us we make decision for her and that we should back off and not fill her mind with rubbish."

"What do you mean he threatens you?" James asked scowling deeply.

"Oh nothing to bad like he'd wipe his hair on us," I grinned, "Just more threats of hexing us into oblivion or that he knows curses we wouldn't even be able to dream off."

"That slimy little _bastard_." James growled.

"My thoughts exactly," I agreed with a nod, "Not that he would ever be able to try anything with me or _Dorcas_ – you know how she is. But it's really beginning to piss me off and I have now decided it's time to kill Snape!"

I held out my arms dramatically and James laughed.

"Well not kill then," I conceded with a smirk, "But get rid of at least."

James shifted around in his seat so he was looking at me fully.

"Get rid of Snivellus? I'm in."

I laughed, "You don't even know the plan! Aww does little Jamsie care that much for Lily?"

"Yes," He replied simply and I rolled my eyes, "And don't call me Jamsie. So, what is the plan then?"

"I will admit it is my best plan yet."

"You say that with all of your crazy plans." James pointed out.

"Yeah but this one is amazing," I smiled, "So we all know Snape really hates it when he's embarrassed by you guys in front of the other Slytherin's?" James nodded and I continued, "I had this brilliant idea that if we somehow staged it so Snivellus was embarrassed in front of his snake friends and Lily that when Lily undoubtedly goes to help the git and yell at you guys that he would have to stop Lily because of all his little slithery friends being there."

James's eyebrows crinkled with confusion.

I rolled my eyes and flicked him, "It's not that difficult to figure out James, Snape will have to call Lily a you-know-what because of his friends being there, Lily hates it when someone calls her that and because it will be Snape she'll want nothing to do with him anymore, she's been trying to convince us for months that the stupid git hasn't changed and that one word will change her whole perception on him."

James's eyes lit up and he stared at me.

I smirked and brought my hand up to his face closing his mouth as he seemed incapable of doing it himself.

"Leave the drooling for Lil James," I sniggered, "So, good plan?"

"Yeah!" He said with a fervent nod, "How the bloody hell are you _not_ in Ravenclaw?"

"Gryffindor and proud," I smirked, "I take your drool as agreement that this is an amaze-ball plan."

"Amaze-ball? Do I want to know?"

James grinned and looked around at the source of the new voice. I too looked around and saw none other than Sirius Black stood beside our table. Despite me and James being as close as siblings I had had very little to do with Sirius.

He was certainly one of the best looking guys in school, maybe the best not that I would ever tell him so, with his long black hair that was messy in a handsome way like James's yet a lot more tameable and fell into his eyes in a casual almost elegant way. His eyes were a shining grey and reminded me of stars by the way they twinkled…

He grinned roguishly at us.

"So what you two up to?" He asked sitting down in the seat opposite us flinging his feet carelessly onto the table.

"Plotting how to kill Snape." I replied.

He laughed loudly his usual bark like laugh which earner us several glares from fellow Fifth years and Seventh Years sat in the Library. We ignored them.

"We're not," James said in a disappointed voice, "But Phoenix has come up with a way to get rid of him."

Sirius arched an eyebrow.

"How?" He asked curiously.

"Provoke him in front of Lily and the snakes he associates himself with so that he'll insult Lily and make her want to rip his balls off."

"Merlin, I would pay to see that." Sirius smirked.

"We should take pictures and sell them," I suggested with a smirk, "And say their going to a fund that will get Snivellus to bathe!"

James and Sirius looked at me for a brief second before bursting out into laughter. Their laughter rung all throughout the Library and mine swiftly followed. Madam Pince stalked over white faced and furious.

"Will you three _desist_?" She hissed, "People are trying to study!"

"Sorry Madam Pince," James gasped wiping tears of laughter out of his eyes, "But it was all Phoenix's fault!"

"Hey!" I laughed playfully smacking his arm.

"Miss Carters!" Madam Pince said turning her glare on me, "How many times have I told you to be quiet in the Library?"

"Three hundred and twenty six, counting now," I replied sweetly, "Oh _wait_, was that a _rhetorical_ question, sorry!"

Sirius snorted with renewed laughter and I shot him a mischievous smile.

"Where is _Hogwarts; A History_?" Pince demanded her nostrils flared as she set her hands on her hips, "I believe you _borrowed_ it two years ago!"

"Ah…you see…"

To be honest, I had played Exploding Snap on the book two years ago, along with Marlene's eyebrows the book was one of the many things that had caught on fire because of the faulty pack. We had panicked at the rising flames and thrown the book into the fire.

Lily was horrified, I had found it hilarious.

"You will return the book at the end of the week, or you will be paying for it!"

I put my hand in my robes pockets and pulled out a handful of Galleons. I held them out for the witch.

"It won't be returned by the end of the week," I told her with a shrug, "It didn't survive an unfortunate fire."

Pince huffed angrily snatched the Galleons out of my hand and stalked off.

"Was that when you set half the Common Room on fire?" Sirius inquired with a grin.

"Yeah," I replied honestly, "That was a fun day."

"You burnt Marlene's eyebrows off didn't you?" James asked.

"She's still not over it," I replied rolling my eyes, "Even though she set my robes on fire in Potions last year."

"How is that even possible?" James asked shocked.

"She caught me flicking frog legs at Snape," I replied, "She tried to get me to stop because we needed them for the potion, she got so angry when I wouldn't that she accidentally turned up the heat of the fire and – _well_ it was bye-bye robes that night."

Sirius laughed again earning us several more irritated glares from students trying to study. I smirked at the sight of the cluster of seventh years Ravenclaw's glaring mutinously at us.

"So this plan," Sirius said his eyes shining at the prospect of a prank that was centred around Snape, "How will we do it?"

"I think after OWL's," I replied not even questioning the two Marauder's instant willingness to be part of my plan, "That way we have a hope of Lily not brutally murdering us if she finds out."

"Always nice not being brutally murdered." Sirius smirked.

I laughed and found myself momentarily mesmerised by the way his eyes sparkled like stars as he laughed… I shook my head slightly and continued.

"Plus the greasy haired bastard that is Severus Snape will be still caught up in the pre OWL stresses that all those idiots suffer from," I said with a roll of my eyes, "Honestly, some people take exams way to seriously, but if you, James, do your usual I'm bored lets attack Snape thing-"

"It's not because I'm bored!" James argued, "He usually starts it! Or I'm getting revenge because he's attacked a potato!"

"A _potato_?" I repeated blankly.

"Hufflepuff's." Sirius explained.

I looked between the two of them for a moment before realising they were being completely serious – well one of them was Sirius but that wasn't the point.

"Okay," I said not for the first time questioning their sanity, "That's how Lily sees it anyway, so you'll attack him avenging your – er – little Hufflepuff friends, Lily will step in and try to help of which Snape will snap and call her a you-know-what and Lily will be so pissed she'll hopefully kill him."

"I'm keeping my fingers crossed." Sirius said with an impish smile.

I grinned, "So am I, what about you James?"

"As much as I would love to see Snivellus dead," James said with a laugh, "Lily will probably be more upset about it…"

I bite my lip, "Yeah, she will… but it'll be for the best, if you look at the type of people he's friends with, did you not hear what Mulciber did to Mary a few weeks back?"

Sirius frowned, "No, what happened?"

"She's Half-blood and she had told him off for calling Lily a you-know-what," I explained in an angry tone still furious with what the stupid Slytherin had done to my friend, "And when she was walking down a corridor alone a few weeks ago he attacked her, hit her with all these horrible curses, she was in the Hospital Wing for three days."

James paled as Sirius exclaimed, "That bastard!"

"I got my revenge," I said with a satisfied smile, "Me and Dorcas charmed his robes so they let off the smell of shit for days not matter how much he washed him."

Sirius laughed his eyes twinkling once again so I found myself entranced by the way they lit up his whole face… I suddenly realised why he was such a womanizer, once look in those eyes and you were hook, line and sinker, the muscles helped as well… Hang on! I shouldn't be thinking about his muscles, of all people Sirius Black's! Think of Snape dancing around naked, Phoenix… I cringed at the image in my head and was, thankfully, thoroughly distracted.

I tore my gaze from Sirius and looked to James who was laughing as well. I really hoped I hadn't been daydreaming that long, I was known for doing so especially in lessons mainly History of Magic, Merlin, for a dead guy Binn's really talked way too much.

"You know, now you've said that, I really want to _kill_ Snivellus." James said with a small scowl on his face.

"Save it for later," I advised, "If we just do this to get Lily to see the real him then you can show her how you're not an annoying, arrogant git – most the time."

"Gee thanks for the compliment Phoenix." James grumbled.

"She's right Prongs," Sirius said, "Plus you're creepily obsessed with her."

"I'm not!" James argued his face flushing.

"Oh really?" Sirius questioned with a smirk, "Well I think by the way you've drawn L.E all over your Charms revision in little snitches that's a lie…"

Blushing furiously James made to snatch back the parchment a laughing Sirius now held in his hands but Sirius moved it out of his reach. Grinning I slid over the table scattering much of James's books and parchment as I did to fall into the seat beside Sirius. I leant over to look at the parchment to see for myself Lily's initials encased in small golden snitches.

I laughed loudly and turned to a mutinous looking James, "Aw how cute, Jamsie's doodling her name all over his diary!"

Sirius laughed loudly as did I. Madam Pince hissed for us to be quiet from the front of the library but we ignored her. James whipped out his wand and said; "Accio parchment!" and the parchment soared from Sirius's grip and into James's hands where he hurriedly stuffed it into his bag.

I slumped back in my seat crossing my arms over my chest.

"You're no fun." Sirius grumbled mirroring my actions.

James looked at us his eyes slightly wide.

"Guys, that's slightly creepy…"

I rolled my eyes.

"You did it again!" James exclaimed, "You both rolled your eyes!"

"Do you need help mate?" Sirius asked in a mock sincere tone.

"Yeah, do we need to take you to see Madam Pomfrey?"

"Oh _ha ha_," James muttered with a small smile, "Very funny and no I'm absolutely fine because in a week we'll be getting rid of Snape."

"You know he won't be disappearing if he's not friends with Lily." I pointed out.

"Yeah but Prongs's whole existence is centred on Lily," Sirius pointed out, "So in his mind it counts."

"True," I agreed, "You know he has a weird way of having a crush on someone."

"I've been telling him that for five years."

I grinned.

"When you two have stopped insulting me," James said loudly and I looked to him smirking, "The plan? We doing it then?"

"Straight after OWL's?" I suggested.

"Of course," James agreed with a nod his eyes shining brightly, "Be prepared to be amazed by my brilliant acting skills."

"You need to learn to hide your blush better then mate." Sirius advised.

James scowled, "Shut up Padfoot."

"And maybe you should stop scribbling Lily's initials all over your work," I said picking up one of his Potions essays that had not fallen to the floor, "It's a bit stalker-ish…"

James snatched it out of my hands his cheeks slightly pink. Sirius and I grinned at each other at the sight of his blush.

"_Phoenix_?"

"Oh _shit_!" I exclaimed diving to the floor.

Alarmed, Sirius looked around before I grabbed his arm and pulled him to the floor with me as I scrambled under the table. I kicked James and he yelped looking under the table with a murderous glared before I too grabbed him and pulled him under the far too small table for the three of us to fit under.

"What the bloody hell was that for?" James grumbled readjusting his glasses.

"I think Lily may have just walked in mate." Sirius replied as he leant against one of the legs of the tables and peered around the chairs.

James's eyes lit up at the mention of my best friend.

"If she sees me talking to you guys she'll know something is up!" I hissed, "So don't you dare go out there professing your love for her!"

"I wasn't planning on!" James hissed back.

Sirius snorted, "Even I don't believe that."

I shifted where I was crouched so I was sat down in between the two Marauders. My arm was pressed up against Sirius's as my other was against James's legs.

"Well – this is cosy." Sirius smirked.

I rolled my eyes, "Man-whore."

Sirius laughed loudly and I hurriedly clapped my hand over his mouth. His raised his eyebrows at me.

"You want the whole bloody castle to hear you?" I asked him amused, "We're trying to hide here!"

"Phoenix?"

I shrunk away as the sound of my best friend Lily was dangerously close to our table. I peered under the legs of the chair I was leant against and could see Lily stood beside our table donning Muggle clothes, I only recognised her because she was wearing her favourite light blue jeans that she regularly wore at weekends.

Without a moments hesitation I clapped my hand over James's mouth as well, nothing good would come from trusting him to not say something stupid in front of Lily.

"Phoenix?" Lily called out again in a quiet voice.

I bite my lip sincerely hoping none of the Ravenclaw's would rat us out.

Lily stood for a few more seconds rocking back on the balls of her feet before another voice, a greasy, snider one that I instantly recognised, and hated, spoke.

"She's not here, we should go Lily."

"She might be in the Common Room," I heard Lily argue; "I'll go look for her there."

"You don't spend anytime with me anymore Lily; you only spend time with _them_." The sneer in Snape's bloody voice was clear, it made me want to take out my wand and curse him.

Apparently James and Sirius had the same thoughts as I had to move my hands from their mouths to their shoulders to restrain the glaring pair, something which was very difficult to do in such a small space.

"By them you mean my _friends_," Lily said in an angry voice, "And I spend plenty of time with you Severus, but I really need to talk to Phoenix."

_ Oh shit, what've I done now_… Lily only needed to talk to me when I was in trouble and she wanted to yell at me about it.

"Of course, _Phoenix_." The slimy git spat my name with disgust and it was suddenly James and Sirius's turn to restrain me.

"Humph!" Lily huffed angrily, "If your going to talk about my best friend like that Severus then you can think again!"

There was a moment's silence.

"I'm sorry."

"Yeah right." Sirius said sarcastically beside me and I cracked a grin.

"Come on, let's go."

I watched for a few moments as Lily's feet disappeared. We stayed hidden for a few more seconds before crawling out from under the table.

"Well, that was unexpected." Sirius said pointedly.

"Yeah, Lily seemed really pissed with Snivellus!" James said grinning broadly.

"Which is why my plan will work." I smirked broadly getting to my feet.

"How long did it take you to come up with it though?" Sirius questioned as he too stood up.

"Er – a year…" I admitted running my fingers through my hair, "But all good plans need a bit of fine tuning."

"Of course they do," James chuckled as he gathered up his books and parchment before unceremoniously shoving them into his bag, "But I'm in."

"So am I." Sirius agreed leaning against the table.

"What about Remus and Peter?" I questioned tilting my head slightly, "We need to get them to sort of just stay out the way…"

James and Sirius glanced at each other then to me their eyebrows raised identically.

"Oh no," I said, "You're not leaving me to tell them!"

The pair slowly began to back away.

"Don't think I won't hesitate to put a Full Body Bind Curse on you." I threatened them.

Sirius glanced at James, "Run for it?"

"Run for it."

And before I could say another word or any well chosen hex the pair had spun around and sprinted out of the Library laughing loudly. I stood for a moment with my arms crossed across my chest.

"_Bloody idiots_…" I grumbled under my breath though for some odd reason I was grinning.

I looked around to see a number of Ravenclaws staring at me. I raised my eyebrow at them.

"What? You've never seen two Marauders acting like dickheads?"

A couple of them smiled before they all looked away back to their books and notes. I chuckled under my breath before retrieving my bag from where I had dumped it on the floor and left the Library Madam Pince glaring after my murderously.

Snivellus, Lily and two of the most immature blokes in the school in one crazy plan cooked up by me, Phoenix Carters, what could possibly go wrong?

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_**A/N So this is a rewritten version of what was A Sprinkle of Carters Mischief, it was my first fanfic and I was really disappointed with what I had written so I decided to delete it and re-upload it and I have to admit I am much happier with this version! Enjoy and please review! Ta, Mischief Managed ;)**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Disclaimer : I don't own Harry Potter, all characters except Phoenix and some plotlines go to J.K Rowling**_

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Potions the next day was pandemonium.

Despite us supposedly needing to revise for our OWL's, that were less than a week away, the classroom had been taken over by a rowdy bunch of fifteen year olds – or the Marauders.

Poor Peter Pettigrew's potion had exploded showering, coincidentally, several Slytherin's in the contents. One thing I never understood about Hogwarts, why would the crazy old bastard that was our Headmaster think that putting the two warring houses together for classes was a good idea?

Honestly, putting Slytherin with Gryffindor immediately spelled trouble. And James Potter with Severus Snape… well our previous Defence against the Dark Arts teacher had resigned three months into the year out of fear they'd accidentally kill her during one of their many duels.

So Professor Slughorn, or the _walrus_, had pompously escorted the effected Slytherin's out of the classroom and to the Hospital Wing leaving the Gryffindor's in varying fits of laughter especially at the sight of a half bald Snape – I really wished I had had a camera at that moment.

But as walrus had left practically crying over his bald snakes the Marauders, well James and Sirius, had taken the opportunity to take over. Several spells had been shot across the room breaking many windows, courtesy of the Slytherin's, and even more cauldrons had exploded, the Marauders.

Lily had stalked off to reprimand James which had ended up with her screaming at him, Remus had set off around the room repairing the broken windows and cauldrons as Sirius practically pissed himself laughing at the sight of Lily screaming at James.

I watched the pair in amusement from where I sat at the back of class Lily's empty space beside me. Lily's face was red with rage and she was repeatedly tossing back her long mane of fiery red hair, she was a fair bit shorter than James but the idiot looked nothing short of terrified.

Poor bastard.

"Ooh look, Lily's got her murder eyes on."

I looked at my friend Dorcas Meadowes with a grin on my face. Dorcas was a stunningly pretty girl, with long pin straight blonde hair, bright blue eyes and beautifully tanned skin. Dorcas had a reputation for being… well, the best way to describe Dorcas would be that she's a female version of Sirius and add that to her exceptional duelling capabilities lets just say its _very difficult _to try and break up with Dorcas Meadowes and live to tell the tale.

"That's her normal look Doe." I told my friend with a laugh.

Dorcas shrugged as she resumed the filing of her nails, "Yeah, but it's a nice change to have her glaring at someone else other than us."

"You guys bring it on yourselves." Hestia Jones said with a smirk.

Hestia was, like Dorcas, a very powerful witch; she was a lot quieter and more reserved than Dorcas and a hell of a lot quieter than _me_. For years McGonagall had been telling me and Dorcas that it was safer to keep us apart, far from stopping us though it had only spurred us on to cause more trouble. Hestia was a very pretty girl, with shoulder length black hair and light grey eyes, her main role as being friends with me was to stop me from accidentally killing myself every day.

I am one hundred percent convinced that when I leave our dormitory every morning a sign appears above my head saying, '_Accident prone and loving it._' I'm rather known throughout my year for causing rather a lot of trouble, sometimes purposely but mainly by accident.

Personally, I find there is no better way to cause some mischief.

"Whatever," Dorcas said with a huff, "Do you think this colour suits me?"

I raised my eyebrow as she flashed us her emerald green nails.

"Definitely not," I replied, "Unless you're now a Slytherin which would mean you need an exorcism."

Dorcas grinned as she tossed back her hair, "There's a cute sixth year I'm trying to impress."

"Wouldn't it be easier to just flash them?" I asked.

Dorcas laughed as Hestia smiled.

"I really hope your kidding their Nix." Hestia said using the nickname I had long since gotten used to, I shrugged in reply.

"It might work…" Dorcas said with a sly smile, "I think he'd be _very_ impressed…"

"Who is it anyway?" I asked interestedly resting my chin on my arms.

"Dunno," Dorcas replied airily, "I didn't catch his name."

"Wow that's lovely; you should definitely flash him then." I suggested.

"Don't you even think about it." Hestia said tiredly to Dorcas who pouted.

"Aww, why not?" I complained with a grin, "I really could use some entertainment!"

"Yeah, Lily screaming at James really isn't good enough."

Hestia rolled her eyes at the two of us.

"You two are so immature."

"Hey! I'm pretty sure I'm getting better…sort of…" I added seeing Hestia's doubtful look.

"Sure you are Nix." Dorcas said patting me on the head as if I was a beloved pet.

I scowled, "I'm not a bloody _dog_ Doe."

"There's nothing wrong with being a dog."

I looked around as a new voice suddenly joined our little impromptu discussion about flashing and pets. Once again I found myself looking at a grinning Sirius Black who had his wand out and was non-verbally repairing the broken window beside us. I had to admit that was impressive, we weren't supposed to learn non-verbal spells for another year then again this was Sirius Black, one of the Marauders, I wouldn't be surprised if they had known how to do non-verbal spells for years.

"Did Remus guilt-trip you to do that by any chance?" I smirked.

Sirius rolled his eyes, "Yeah, the git, wasn't even _me _who did it."

"Well James looks a bit to busy wetting himself with fear to help." I pointed out.

Sirius glanced over his shoulder to where James was stood still being yelled at by Lily. Merlin, she'd have to stop sometime to _breathe_.

"Good point," He grinned, "Though he'll still probably talk for hours on end about how her eyes shine when she's angry – you know that type of crap."

"Ah the mushy romantic rubbish," I said crinkling my nose, "I get you."

"Does he always do that?" Dorcas questioned tilting her head slightly.

Sirius shrugged, "Not sure, I usually stick him with Wormtail for a few hours so I don't kill him."

"Such a good friend." I laughed.

Dorcas grinned as she tapped her wand to her nails turning them glittering silver.

"Really Doe?" Hestia questioned exasperated.

"It's not green," Dorcas argued, "But they're still Slytherin themed!"

Sirius raised an eyebrow and looked at me, "Do I _want_ to know?"

"No." I replied simply.

"I DON'T _CARE_ IF IT WASN'T YOUR FAULT! YOU STILL _PROVOKED_ THEM!"

I winced at the sheer _volume _of Lily's yell. Her wand was in her hand and she looked murderous as she glared at James, her bright emerald green eyes flashing dangerously.

"Ah, it might be time to intervene." Hestia murmured anxiously.

"I did it last time," I said holding up my hands and leaning back in my chair, "You know we really should sort out a rota for taming Lily."

Hestia shot me a dark look.

"Come on Doe."

"Do I have to?" She whined and I laughed.

Hestia chuckled slightly and stood up pulling Dorcas up with her. Dorcas scowled, tossed her hair, but allowed Hestia to drag her to the front of the class to stop Lily before she hexed James – again. Good old Lily.

"I don't think you've ever actually stopped Lily." Sirius smirked.

I shrugged and grinned, "It's far more entertaining to see her scream herself hoarse because of James."

"Bad friend."

"Hey," I laughed, "I am an _awesome _friend; I've stuck with that girl's hate the same guys crap haven't I?"

"It didn't seem like that earlier," Sirius pointed out sitting down in Lily's deserted seat, "Why do girls _even_ do that?"

"I have no bloody idea," I replied honestly, "But if it stops Lily from having a mental breakdown I'll gladly pretend I want to brutally murder James."

"She really hates him doesn't she?"

"No I don't think she really does," I said slowly, "I think her first impression of him has just stuck with her, plus he didn't do much to help it harassing Snape."

"Well Prongs has always had a reason to do _that_." Sirius said an uncharacteristic dark look crossing his handsome face.

I frowned, "What do you mean?"

"It doesn't matter, I'm sure Prongs will tell you."

"I'm not so sure about that," I admitted with a sigh, "We're not as close as we used to be."

"Lily?"

"Yes," I replied with a laugh, "Among other things."

"You don't have to tell me; after all I am a man-whore."

I laughed loudly, "Yeah you really are."

"See I take that as a compliment." Sirius said with a shrug as he grinned at me.

"You'll take _anything anyone _says as a compliment."

"Is that a bad thing though?" Sirius asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Hmm, not really." I admitted.

"Oh yeah, word of warning, Moony wants to talk to you."

I glared at him and he laughed.

"Thanks for mentioning it; he'll probably make me clean out Snape's pants drawer." I grumbled resting my arms on my desk.

"Nah he won't." Sirius said leaning back in his chair so that it hit the stone wall with a slight click and he was balanced on two legs.

I looked at him incredulously.

"Maybe," Sirius corrected himself with an impish smirk that made his eyes sparkle brilliantly, "But he just wants to talk to you about the plan."

"My amaze-balls plan?"

Sirius laughed and shook his head, "Yeah you're er – _amaze-balls _plan."

"Don't judge my choice of adjective," I threatened him playfully, "Because you know it is a bloody brilliant word."

"Don't you mean an amaze-balls word?"

I laughed, "See! You're learning! I'm so proud!"

As me and Sirius burst into laughter, Hestia and Dorcas returned. Dorcas was laughing and Hestia was scowling slightly despite a small amused smile curving her lips.

"What's so funny?" Dorcas questioned as she slid back into her seat and arched around to look at the two of us.

"Sirius is finally beginning to learn something," I teased, "And it only took him five years."

"It's such a proud moment." Sirius chuckled.

"How are the lovebirds?" I questioned.

"James is practically drooling at her; Lily just seems to be getting louder." Dorcas replied amusedly.

"So glad I'm not Prongs." Sirius said.

"I think we all are," I told him, "Merlin, I've only been yelled at Lily twice – this week – it's bloody terrifying."

Hestia snorted, "She's not terrifying, she's just loud, there's nothing terrifying about someone being able to deafen you."

"You tell my eardrums that." I retorted.

"Why is Remus coming over here?" Dorcas asked curiously looking over her shoulder.

"To make me clean Snape's pants drawer."

Sirius laughed as did Dorcas, Hestia looked at me as if she was questioning my sanity, not that I hadn't done it before.

"He looks kind of angry…" Hestia said frowning.

I looked at Sirius who looked back at me the same thought that was running through my mind showing on my face. Remus was going to kill us.

"Lets go see if Lily needs help!" Dorcas declared unnecessarily loud pulling Hestia to her feet.

"Don't leave us to the wrath of Remus Lupin!" I said desperately.

Dorcas smirked at me and waved before walked away her blonde hair dancing behind her, Hestia grimaced at me as Dorcas dragged her away and Remus reached our table.

Unlike James and Sirius, Remus Lupin wasn't an in your face _I'm-gorgeous-and-I-have-abs-and-regularly-shag-people-in-broom-closests_ type of guy, he had a classic more clean cut to him, with his soft brown hair and green eyes he was very attractive. He was the quieter and definitely more responsible of the Marauders, though I had also heard that he was the mastermind behind many of their more infamous pranks.

I grabbed Sirius's arms as the Marauder looked as if he was about to sprint for it, or dive out the newly repaired window.

"Before you say anything," I told the Prefect – oh crap, Prefect! – slowly, "This is _all _James's fault."

Clearly trying to hold back his laughter Sirius nodded in agreement.

Remus chuckled in amusement.

"Sure it is," He said smiling, "I'm not actually here to yell at you because you seem to be under the illusion that I am."

"There's a lot of yelling at the moment," I shrugged, "I thought that you might be influenced by it."

Sirius laughed his typical bark like laugh.

"So if your not here to yell…what do you want then?"

Remus glanced around making sure no one was listening, not that anyone was as they were thoroughly distracted by the Lily and James spectacle, and then sat down in Dorcas's abandoned seat. I took that time to look towards the front of class to see that Lily had stopped yelling at James but had brandished her wand and appeared to be talking to the Marauder in a low, dangerous voice – never a good sign.

"Maybe you should go help," I advised Sirius, "You know, stop James from saying something completely and utterly stupid?"

Sirius grinned, almost in relief, and stood up and walked to the front of the class. I watched him for a moment as he muttered something to James who promptly shut his mouth and paled slightly. Hestia was half restraining Lily as Dorcas openly laughed at our friend.

I shook my head fondly at my friends and looked at Remus.

"Sorry, got distracted by my lovely sweet tempered friend," I grinned, "What did you want to talk about?"

"Your plan." Remus replied looking wary.

"My amazing plan you mean."

He rolled his eyes and sighed looking much older than fifteen for a brief second before he smiled warmly, "I'm worried about it…your not actually planning to kill Snape are you?"

"Sirius?"

"James actually," He replied with a dry laugh, "Please tell me your _not _trying to kill him."

"Unfortunately no." I replied with a shrug.

He sighed in relief, "Good, I always had a feeling Sirius would end up in Azkaban for murder."

I grinned, "You know I don't doubt that, though by how this lesson is going I have a theory that Lily might beat him to it… no scratch that she'll probably go to Azkaban _for _killing Sirius, or James, or me…"

"That's highly comforting Phoenix, thanks."

I laughed, "Just saying it how it is Remus."

"What exactly is this plan?"

I glanced around making sure no one was listening in, I was mainly looking for Slytherin's but they were on the other side of the room talking with their heads close together no doubt plotting how to get revenge for their classmates being scalped. I scowled slightly then looked back to Remus meeting his kind gaze and explained in a quiet voice the plan I had devised the day before.

"That might actually work." Remus said in a surprised voice once I had finished talking.

I grinned, "I try my best."

"But do they really have to _attack _Snape?" He asked with a tired expression.

"It's the best part."

Remus gave me a stern look not unlike Professor McGonagall's.

"It was a joke," I said quickly, "And yes they do, it's the only way to provoke Snivellus for the plan to work."

Remus groaned, "Not you too!"

I smirked at him, "Yeah, me too, sorry."

Remus chuckled slightly suddenly once again looking very tired. I frowned slightly when I noticed the dark colour under his eyes.

"Come on Remus, admit it your fed up with Lily always being at James's throat and James acting like a complete and utter prat in front of her all the time, with Sniv – _Snape _out of the picture they'll at least talk civilly to one another."

"You're right and it is really annoying."

"See?" I grinned, "That wasn't so hard to say! Admit it, I'm a genius!"

He looked at me amusedly, "You're a genius."

"Why thank you," I chuckled, "And you have to admit _another _thing, Snape _really _does deserve it, he's a slimy git who is convinced me and Dorcas are controlling Lily."

"Well…he does have a point, especially now." Remus pointed out.

"I'm not controlling her in anyway, Lily's the most independent person I know plus I am not capable of subtlety. We're just lending a helping hand to remove an unpleasant greasy growth."

Remus raised his eyebrows at me, "You have a very weird way of wording things."

"More fun that way."

Remus laughed then sighed.

"Why am I agreeing to this?"

"You're not going to actually be doing anything, just pretending you have no idea what me, James and Sirius are planning," I shrugged, "It's quite easy really."

"And what would I get out of this?"

"Your sanity." I replied simply.

He laughed loudly as did I.

"You do have a point there Phoenix," Remus said smiling at me, "why haven't you suggested this before?"

"To be honest it took me a year to figure it out, fine-tuning and all that."

"So it wasn't a spur of the moment idea?"

I grinned and shook my head.

"Oh drat, I was hopeful for a second then."

I arched an eyebrow at the Prefect, "You have _that _little faith in my brilliant plan?"

Remus sighed, "It's a plan with _James _and _Sirius_ - something will go wrong."

"That's where they've gone wrong before, I haven't been involved."

He rolled his eyes. I could tell Remus was still doubtful with the plan, I didn't blame him to be truthful there was a lot at risk, being near Snape and Lily yelling at me – it was horrible to imagine either one of those things happening.

I smiled mischievously at Remus and said in a slow voice, "You know, the house-elves in the kitchens are rather fond of me it wouldn't be too difficult for them to get some _chocolate_…"

His face remained impassive yet his eyes brightened considerably.

"Prefect Lupin," I said in a falsely shocked voice, "You'll cave so quickly?"

"The plan does sound like it would work and even if it didn't not much bad would come from it… and it would make my life a bit easier if James and Lily could have a normal conversation for once…"

I somehow managed to suppress a smile as Remus began to talk more to himself than me, he was letting his Marauder side talk his Prefect side into agreeing with my plan.

"All right," Remus said after a few moments, "I'll pretend I knew nothing of your plan and let you three go along with this crazy scheme."

I grinned, "So, chocolate's your weakness?"

"Doesn't everyone have a weakness?" He retorted.

"No one can say no to chocolate – that definitely applies to you."

Remus chuckled glancing over his shoulder, a small frown formed on his face as he saw that Lily was being restrained by Hestia _and _Dorcas now. James was pale with fear as was Peter's, so much for Gryffindor courage, and Sirius was once again laughing.

"I'm going to go intervene, I have a feeling Sirius is just helping James dig himself a digger hole."

I smirked at the accuracy of Remus's statement.

"Bye Phoenix."

"See ya Remus."

He smiled at me as he left. I watched him for a few moments as he walked to the front of the class calmly stepping in between Lily and James. I rolled my eyes; five years of dealing with the other Marauders Remus had become a master at diffusing these types of arguments.

Lily's yelling faded to silence and the classroom was filled with the buzz of chatter after a few seconds. I looked at my watch to see there was only ten minutes left of the lesson and much of it had been spent by Lily yelling at James.

I looked out of the window Sirius had repaired mere minutes ago, for a change the weather was turning out to be quite pleasant, I hoped it would last for a bit longer, it would be just our luck that it would be torrential rain when our OWL's were finally over and we had some time to actually go outside.

"Daydreaming are we?"

I jumped slightly at the sound of Sirius's voice beside me. I hadn't noticed him walk over, nor had I noticed him sit down in Lily's deserted seat.

"Yes." I replied simply.

He rolled his eyes, "I noticed, you kinda zoned out for about five minutes."

I laughed, "That sounds just like me."

"So," Sirius said swinging his legs off of the table and onto my lap, I rolled my eyes at his actions as he continued with a roughish grin, "How do you think the lovebirds are doing?"

I didn't have to ask who he meant; instead I looked to the front of the class where Remus was still talking to Lily and James. Lily was frowning with her arms crossed and James, the James Potter, looked _sheepish_. I had known James for most of my life and Merlin; I had never seen the prat look sheepish before!

I watched for a few more moments tilting my head slightly to the side, Lily was looking at James and no longer looked angry but, rightfully so, confused.

"James looks like he feels guilty, I think its confusing Lily."

Sirius watched the pair for a moment.

"Yeah…your right, bloody hell he's whipped."

I laughed, "And their not even together – yet."

"Ah, can't forget the yet now can we."

I grinned at him and he grinned back at me his grey eyes twinkling like the stars we had studied so many times in Astronomy.

The door to our classroom opened, we all swivelled around to look at who was there. Slughorn walked forward as large and hairy as ever; behind him trailed the Slytherin's who had been hit with Peter's exploding potion all of them looking disgruntled and grumbling darkly under their breath, as soon as Snape walked in the Gryffindor's, even Remus, burst into laughter.

He was still missing half of his hair.

I could have sworn that as Lily glared at James for laughing at the sight of the scalped snake that was her oldest best friend and Slughorn told the class in a booming voice to settle down that there was a small amused smile on her face.

* * *

_**A/N So here's chapter two! Took a while for me to rewrite but I definitely prefer this version to the other one! Enjoy and please REVIEW! Ta, Mischief Managed ;)**_


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